Texas Basketball: Takeaways from tough “Red River Rivalry” loss vs Oklahoma

Texas basketball had 8 scholarship players available and the Sooners took advantage

Fran Fraschilla said on the call last night with Jon Sciambi that the Longhorns we’re going to miss the defensive output of Ramey, Sims, and Cunningham.

They surely did. Things got worse for them in the second half as fouls started to pile up quickly midway through the second half. Before the midway point, the Sooners put Coleman III, Royce Hamm Jr., and Kamaka Hepa in major foul trouble. Each of them had four fouls. The first two along with Greg Brown III would later foul out down the stretch.

The Longhorns had 29 personal fouls in the game and the Sooners did a good job attacking the paint to draw them. They got to the free-throw line 34 times and knocked down 21 of them. If they made more of them, that score difference would have been bigger.

You would think that a team in foul trouble like Texas basketball was would be in a deficit of at least 8-10 points by the end of the game. Texas is different. Their veteran leadership, grit, and determination carried them throughout the game.

The Longhorns never gave up despite being down at points diluting the second half. They always managed to stay within five points or fewer of the Sooners. Of course, Shaka Smart not being in the building was a factor in the loss, but Coach Turner did a great job filling in for him and keeping the team focused.